Family Courtroom Dedication Open to Public

Posted on: Oct 13th, 2010 | News and Announcements

A public dedication ceremony of the main courtroom of the Mobile County Probate Court will be a homecoming of sorts for descendents of one of the earliest of the probate judges to serve Mobile County. The event is set for 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 15, on the third floor of Mobile County Government Center Annex, located at 151 Government St. The ceremony, which will include a large crowd of local attorneys, has attracted the descendents of the late Judge John Fagan Everett, who first arrived in the Mobile area when it was still the Territory of Alabama. His descendents from Texas, who have never met each other, will be meeting each other for the first time to honor the judge that served more than 150 years ago, from 1837 to 1842. Eleven other former judges will have family members representing them at the dedication ceremony, many of them a ?who?s who? of the history of the Mobile community. They include: Cyrus Sibley (1820) ? Mr. Robert G. Jackson, Jr. John F. Everett (1837-1842) ? Ms. Judy Ramos Alexander Meek (1854-1855) ? Mrs. Sallie Meek Hunter Raphael Semmes (elected but not permitted to serve) ? Mr. Oliver Semmes Price Williams Jr. (1874-1914); Price Williams (1914-1937) ? Ms. Joan Price-Williams Matthew A. Boykin (1938-1940) ? Mrs. Betty Boykin Walker Norvelle R. Leigh, Jr. (1940-1950) ? Mr. Donnie H. Smith, Jr. William Taylor (1950) ? Ms. Virginia Lott Walter Gaillard (1950-1954) ? Mr. Frye Gaillard T. L. Griffin (1954-1955) ? Dr. David Inge John L. Moore, III (1963-1983) ? Ms. Anne Moore Patton Lionel W. Noonan (1983-2001) ? self The program will include a retrospective of the Court?s work in Mobile and Archbishop Thomas Rodi will be the featured speaker. The public is invited to attend. The courtroom dedication underscores the importance of the Court, particularly in its rulings on family issues, such as adoptions, guardianships, conservatorships, eminent domain, estate administration (with or without a last will and testament), trust matters, name changes and involuntary commitment of the seriously mentally ill. The Probate Court in Mobile County is the oldest court in our community and as the only county court in Mobile County at this time, it constitutes the third branch of Mobile County government. For more information contact: Ms. Collette King at (251) 574-6065 or at cking@probate.mobilecountyal.gov.